Extraordinary alumni succeed in exceptional fashion

The Alumni Achievement Award

The Alumni Achievement Award recognizes alumni 35 years of age and younger for their extraordinary professional accomplishments. These prominent young alumni are nominated by an academic college and invited by the President of the University to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty, and administrators. They demonstrate to students that Penn State alumni succeed in exceptional fashion at an early age.

2024 Recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award

Jemar R. Bather

2014 B.S. Statistics, Penn State

Bather is part of a cross-functional team at Merck, where he works with physicians to develop new medications for individuals living with infectious diseases. He also provides biostatistical leadership, guidance, and support to advance the development of medications in Merck’s infectious disease portfolio. While he was a doctoral student at Harvard University, he conducted novel studies in the areas of pediatric HIV, environmental health, and reproductive epidemiology.

Bather received the Albert Schweitzer Award from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for his sustained commitment to health equity and justice, and his efforts to advance diversity and inclusion through teaching, mentoring, service, research, and advocacy. He has already published 13 papers which have contributed to the fields of public health and clinical science. His work has appeared in diverse outlets such as the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, Statistics in Medicine, Environmental Research, Public Health Reports, Frontiers in Genetics, and the Journal of Biomedical Informatics.

As a Penn State student, he received the Bunton-Waller Scholarship and held leadership positions in the Lambda Lambda Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was also a member of the Mu Sigma Rho Statistical Honor Society.

Bather lives in Philadelphia and is a member of the Penn State Alumni Association. 

Previous Eberly Alumni Achievement Award Recipients

2023
Leah Liu

2022
Therese Jones

2020
Sina Memari

2019
Laura Dassama
Daniel Kapinos

2018
Megan Matthews

2017
John Urschel

2016
Brandon McCollum

2014
Brian Geary

2013
H. Jacob Hanchar

2012
Danielle Bassett
Heather Agnew

2011
Maggie Jeffries

2008
Kristina Peachman

2007
Paul Lerou

2006
Bruce Booth, Jr.